World: Toward a Sterner Life

The dull thump of bombs in the O.K.
Corral was audible in Saigon, but the capital was not listening. Its
attention was focused on the installation of yet another new
government. Black limousines loaded with generals swept through the
city escorted by Jeeps mounting .50-cal. machine guns. An honor guard
stood tautly and interminably in the hot sun outside stately Dienhong
Mansion as a brass band blared the national anthem. The scene was far
too familiar, a piece of political theater played to a skeptical and
somewhat jaundiced audience and by no means sure of a long run. Yet
some of...